Towards the end of the week, however, I had a number of crises to deal with. First I had to take my Dad to the doctor, as he had a painful throat making it impossible for him to eat or swallow. Next I ended up at the dentist for emergency root canal treatment And then, perhaps most devastating of all, I had my purse stolen when we were in the city yesterday, which means I'm currently in that laborious process of cancelling bank cards and filing police reports.
We have absolutely no idea how the theft could have happened. I'm always extra vigilant in cities, holding on to the zip of my shopping bag so that no one can open it. In fact, we discovered the theft within twenty minutes, as it happened between our leaving the supermarket and getting to the bus station. But this seems to have been a professional at work, as within five minutes of the theft he had already used one of my British debit cards for purchases of more than £300. I don't yet know if my credit card or my Spanish bank card have also been used. Of course, I had to phone my banks both in Scotland and Spain to cancel the cards, and I had to file reports with the Spanish police. I'll also need to start the process of applying for a new driving licence, health card, library card, petrol card, insurance card, etc, etc. Apart from the loss of the holiday cash we had in the purse, you feel so violated when all your personal stuff is torn from you like that. We are praying, however, and trusting God that this will not spoil the remaining few days of my parents' holiday in Spain.
After two days of using a gel for a fungal infection in his throat, Dad is beginning to feel better again now. As for me, my tooth is still very sensitive, even after removal of the nerve, so the dentist has given me antibiotics to deal with a secondary infection, and I'm trusting that the pain will be gone soon, and that things will settle down before my trip to Africa next month. My follow up dental appointment to complete the root canal treatment needs to be a month later, and so it will only happen when I get back from Senegal at the beginning of September.
